San Antonio, USA - Romania’s Nuta Olaru and Kenya’s Meschack Kirwa respectively won the women’s and men’s divisions of the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon on Sunday (17), the largest ever road race in Texan history.

Olaru finished in 2:28:54, holding off a late surge from New Zealand Olympian and San Antonio resident Liza Hunter-Galvan, who ran a personal best in 2:29:37.

“I really needed about another mile to catch her,” said Hunter-Galvan. “But hey, who wanted to run another mile?”

Margret Okayo, record holder at the Boston, New York and Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathons, led a group of five runners through the first four miles. Then, at mile five, Olaru pushed ahead running a 2:27:00 pace over the first 10k, opening a sizable lead with a half marathon split of 1:13:12. Okayo dropped out after 15k with a foot injury.

“The initial pace was fast, and at the five mile mark I found myself in the lead,” said Olaru, who is looking forward to the World championships in Berlin next year. “It was a good course and the weather was perfect this morning. It feels really good to win the first event.”

At mile 17, Olaru was briefly ill and began to slow, with Hunter-Galvan trailing 1:43 behind. Hunter-Galvan found a late burst over the final six miles to close the gap between herself and Olaru.

"I was a little worried that my half marathon time was faster than I wanted it to be," said Hunter-Galvan. "But between miles 15 and 16 I passed four runners and with all the spectators cheering over the last six miles I pushed it back up again."

Kenya’s Meschack Kirwa, who finished second at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville earlier this year, stretched his lead over the closing stages to win the men’s race in 2:14:36.

“I knew at 30k I could win,” said Kirwa. “I was running a pace I could push near the end and the people cheering along the course kept me going.”

Kirwa finished exactly one minute ahead of American Matt Downin, who made late strides to finish in 2:15:36. Dmitry Safranov of Russia finished third in his marathon debut with a time of 2:15:58.

A record number of 30,000 people registered for the event and, of those, 24,761 runners started the race. The event had entrants from 18 countries, all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The second annual Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon is set for Sunday, 15 November 2009.

Dan Cruz for the IAAF

Men

1. Meschack Kirwa, 34, Kenya, 2:14:36
2. Matt Downin, 31, USA, 2:15:36
3. Dmitry Safranov, 27, Russia, 2:15:58
4. Shimeles Molla, 26, Ethiopia, 2:17:01
5. Noah Talem, 30, Kenya, 2:19:10

Women

1. Nuta Olaru, 37, Romania, 2:28:54
2. Liza Hunter-Galvan, 39, New Zealand, 2:29:37
3. Karolina Jarzynska, 27, Poland, 2:33:19
4. Tatiana Pushkareva, 23, Russia, 2:40:01
5. Michele Suszek, 25, USA, 2:42:57